The battlecruiser that Admiral Inoue loved, it's Hiei.Even though I'm a shiny Imperial ship, I'll work my hardest.I was even the test-ship for the Yamato class, didn't you know?Eh? The Battle of Guadalcanal? Yes, I fought hard.

ソロモン海戦 is literally "The Battle of the Solomon Islands", but in English, this is better known as the Battle of Guadalcanal - in the course of which Hiei and her sister ship Kirishima were sunk.

Referring to the Yamato class, Hiei is the only battleship in Kongou class to have her superstructure mast upgraded to a prototype to be used on the Yamato-class.

Hiei was abandoned after receiving mistaken report about flooded boiler rooms and loss of all power. She was bound to be scuttled, but orders came from Yamamoto that she is to be left afloat and serve as diversion for next day's transport run. After few hours of floating around her, Vice Admiral Hiroaki Abe ordered a retreat. It was the last time Hiei was seen, the wreckage, despite weak currents in the area, remains uncovered. Abe was relieved of command on the same day.

Hiei was the only one of the Kongou sisters to have her superstructure mast reconstructed into a similar prototype to be used on the Yamato class.

Named after Mount Hiei

Received her Kai Ni on 20/11/2013.

She was extensively damaged during the first Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, after which she was found and sunk by an aircraft from USS Enterprise on November 14 1942, making her the first battleship lost by the IJN during WWII.

During her last hours Hiei's crew was fighting with all their might to keep the vessel operational, despite constant attacks by American aircraft, losing and regaining power multiple times.

When the report about the last boiler being flooded came and abandonment orders were finally given, it's said that Captain Nishida watched over the evacuation sitting in his favourite chair atop one of Hiei's turrets and did not move even during American aircraft strafing run. Later he was forcibly removed from the ship.

Wreck possibly found by Dr. Robert Ballard in 1993. There is discussion whether or not the wreck is her or Kirishima...[1]